1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is related to a method and an apparatus thereof for continuously producing a tubular mantle meat of cuttlefish without arms, viscera, fins and skin thereof. Especially, the invention is related to a method and an apparatus for continuously preparing the tubular mantle meat, whereby the cuttlefish right after catching and fishing can be provided with a continuous process comprising in sequence steps of arm removing, viscera removing, fin removing and skin striping-off, even if on the trawler, boat or ship subjected to pitching and rolling caused on rough sea waves, and furthermore the invention can carry out the continuous process of cuttlefish by utilizing the sea water ready to be obtainable on the sea.
In the specification, "tubular mantle meat" implies a cuttlefish meat prepared by removing arms, viscera and fins of cuttlefish.
2. PRIOR ART
Cuttlefish is one of the marine products and also a favorite of Japanese people.
In the case of utilizing the cuttlefish in the food manufacturing industry, it is general that the cuttlefish is divided into components with respective industrual use different each other and that the divided component after dividing the cuttlefish is utilized according to respective industrial demand use thereof, without the case of eating at a home the cuttlefish as Sashimi ( sliced meat). Namely, the fins consisting of one component of the cuttlefish may be utilized as a raw material of Chinese food. The tubular mantle meat prepared by peeling off the mantle skin may be utilized as a raw material of the deep-fried cuttlefish. The arms may be utilized as an additive to be added into Surimi or meat paste of cuttlefish.
Consequently, it is preferred, instead of freezing the cuttlefish right after catching thereof in a fashion that the cuttlefish stands with arms, viscera, fins and mantle skins, to divide the cuttlefish into components thereof, such as fins, arms and tubular mantle meat and to freeze the divided components, respectively, on the trawler, boat or ship. Each of the frozen components is supplied to the market. Doing so coincides with the market needs and is very advantageous in the sales aspect. The division of cuttlefish into components has to be made while the cuttlefish is fresh, that is, right after the catch thereof, on the trawler, fishing boat or ship.
However, the operation of separating cuttlefish on the trawler, boat or ship is subjected to pitching and rolling due to rough sea waves and hence is very dangerous and provides fishermen with labour along with high degree of fatigue, and there is a strong demand for automation of the operation of dividing the cuttlefish on the trawler, boat or ship. Nevertheless, no method or apparatus which can meet this demand has been proposed.
Up to date, such division of the cuttlefish on the boat, trawler or ship is carried out by manual operation. That is, the cuttlefish right after the catch thereof is subjected on the boat or the like to an arm removal manual operation, in which the arms are removed together with the viscera, by manual operation. However, to meat the market needs, the arm removal operation only is insufficient, and it is further required to cut off the fins and one portion of mantle affixed to the fins from the mantle of cuttlefish and then to peel off the skin so as to prepare a product of tubular mantle meat of the cuttlefish.
There are proposed machines and apparatuses for removing cuttlefish arm and viscera on the land. However, these machines and apparatuses can not be directly utilized for automating the operation for preparing the tubular mantle meat of the cuttlefish and also for withstanding pitching and rolling of the trawler, boat or ship due to rough sea waves, and in consequence considerable modification is necessary. That is, it is necessary to develop machines and apparatuses which permit a perfect automation of on-line process ranging from the arm removal operation to a preparation of tubular mantle meat of the cuttlefish. Presently proposed, however, are arm removing machines and apparatus only.
More specifically, Japanese Application Disclosure No. 158128/83 discloses an improvement of a arm/viscera removing apparatus which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 21920/76. In the disclosed cuttlefish and viscera removing apparatus, a conveying plate puts between a pair of endless chains, and it has holding means to hold the arm of the cuttlefish. As the cuttlefish moves on the conveying plate and passes through between a pair of opposed guides plates, it is pressed from its opposite sides thereof by the guides plates so that it is spread upwardly. In this upwardly spread state, the joining portion by which arms are connected with the rear surface of the tubular mantle, is cut apart by using an arm removal tool, thus effecting the removal of the arms from the mantle of the cuttlefish.
Thus-obtained mantle drops by a movement in an oblique direction of the guide plates on a conduit, through which it is transferred to a sequent step.
Accordingly, the prior-art apparatus makes it possible to attain an automation of the sole arm removal operation which had heretofore been done manually.
On the contrary, the apparatus has defects, such that the apparatus is suitable for on-the-boat processing of the cuttlefish right after the catch thereof, because the apparatus has not an closed connection with processing steps following the arm removal operation. Consequently, the prior-art apparatus make it impossible to meet a requirement of an automation of all processing steps necessary for producing the tubular mantle meat by using the cuttlefish as a raw material.
Namely, the on-the-boat operation is subjected to violent pitching and rolling movements of the boat or ship caused depending on the state of the sea. The prior-art apparatus has a complicated structure and hence cannot provide the on-the-boat operation with its performance equal to that in the case when it operates on the land. Further, thus-obtained mantles are collected by manual operation and fed respectively by using the conduit, into the next processing step following the arm removal step. To this end, the prior-art apparatus can not be automatically coupled with an apparatus carrying out the next processing step.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 72839/91, describes an apparatus, which comprises a pair of gripping members retaining the mantle of cuttlefish therebetween, during the course of the arm removal operation, one member among pair gripping members being provided on the inner surface thereof with anti-slip means. The disclosed apparatus, however, is inferior in the degree of automation, compared to the above prior-art apparatus. In addition, like the above prior-art apparatus, the disclosed apparatus has problems in the coupling to the next processing step following the arm removal step.